The year keeps flying by and the events keep coming! From Afrocentric films to significant art exhibitions, circus performances and food, November is a great month to celebrate a wide array of events from coast to coast. Happy holidays!
Ongoing events
Through Dec. 29
- “Art Speaks: 50 Years Forward” (Birmingham, Ala.): The work of several of the world’s finest contemporary artists, including Theaster Gates, Hank Willis Thomas, Dawoud Bey, Jefferson Pinder and Shinique Smith, will be among the highlights of an unprecedented series of projects that uses contemporary art to tell the story of the Civil Rights Movement in “Art Speaks: 50 Years Forward.” Presented at the Birmingham Museum of Art, the projects are in commemoration of the nearly 50 years that have passed since a bomb blast ripped through the walls of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four innocent little girls as well as two boys in the resulting violence later that day. 205-254-2565, http://artsbma.org/artspeaks
- “Etched in Collective History” runs Aug. 18-Nov. 17.
- “Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project” runs Sept. 8-Dec. 2.
- “Question Bridge: Black Males” runs Oct. 6-Dec. 29.
Through Jan. 20, 2014
- “Barbara Chase-Riboud: The Malcolm XSteles” (Philadelphia, Pa.): Barbara Chase-Riboud is an internationally acclaimed visual artist and award-winning writer and poet, best known for her 1979 historical novel “Sally Hemings.” This exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art brings together more than 40 of her works from Europe and the U.S. It not only examines her artistic career, but focuses primarily on her important Malcolm X sculptures and drawings. All of her various works are lauded for their unique fusion of elements, her cultural, political and artistic life experiences and her interpretation of the context of the American Civil Rights Movement. 215-763-8100, www.philamuseum.org
Through Jan. 4, 2014
- “Breaking the Barriers” (New York City): Presented in the American Negro Theater at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, “Breaking the Barriers” explores the history of the oldest African-American-oriented sport association in the country—the American Tennis Association. The exhibit is significant in that it highlights, through video, photographs and interviews, the many facets of the organization and shows that, although founded in a time when it was not open to African-American participation, it nonetheless played an integral role in the careers of numerous Black players. 212-491-2200, www.nypl.org/locations/schomburg
Through March 23, 2014
- “Kongo Across the Waters” (Gainesville, Fla.) : Presented at the Harn Museum of Art in Gainesville, Fla., “Kongo Across the Waters” addresses the cultural and artistic themes within Kongo culture and its connections with African-American art and culture in the U.S. The exhibition will encompass five major themes: “Kongo and the Atlantic World,” “Kongo Across the Waters,” “Kongo in the Age of Empire,” “Kongo in African-American Cultures” and “Contemporary Kongo.” Each theme depicts a diverse aspect of this culture in terms of its history, archaeology, language, leadership, religion and more. This exhibition also coincides with the 500th commemoration of when Juan Garrido, the first African conquistador, came to the Americas. 352-392-9826, www.harn.ufl.edu
Through May 17, 2015
- “Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive” (New York, NY): Unfolding in three thematic sections, “Distance and Desire: Encounters with the African Archive” is the third exhibition at the Walther Collection devoted to African photography and video art. Significant in its range and scope, the exhibit “brings together late 19th and early 20th century portraits, cartes de visite, postcards, album pages and books from Southern and Eastern Africa, set in dialogue with recent photography and video by contemporary artists who have engaged with photographic archives [offering] … new perspectives on the legacy of anthropological and ethnographic visions of Africans, reimagining the poetic and political dimension of the archive, its diverse histories and its changing meanings.” 212-352-0683, www.walthercollection.com
Current events
- UniverSoul Circus (various cities):Delighting audiences all across the country, the UniverSoul Circus is great family entertainment for audiences of all ages. According to the promoters, “For 2013, UniverSoul features news acts, including a neck-breaking head balancing act from Vietnam, Comedy Cat illusions featuring a live tiger, and a bountiful bevy of female contortionists from Ethiopia. From start to finish, UniverSoul has assembled its most sensational and provocative lineup of performers to date. They include artists from the United States, Trinidad and Tobago, France, Brazil, Colombia, Vietnam, South Africa, Russia, Ethiopia and West Africa.” 800-316-7439, www.universoulcircus.com The remaining dates and cities for this year are: Through Nov. 17 – Philadelphia, Pa. Nov. 20-24 – Charlotte, N.C.
Nov. 23
- 30th annual Mobile International Festival (Mobile, Ala.): Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the Mobile International Festival is a regional favorite. Designed to celebrate the cultures of the globe through music, performance art, cuisine and a great deal more, the festival’s strength is the wide array of cultures it highlights, including folks from Ireland, Africa, Nepal, India, Chile, Egypt, Argentina and Mexico, just to name a few, plus those from numerous states across the country, including, of course, Alabama, North Carolina, Florida, Texas and Tennessee. 251-208-7261, www.mobileinternationalfestival.org
Nov. 29-Dec. 15
- 21st annual African Diaspora Film Festival (New York City): Billed as one of the most prestigious Afrocentric international film festivals in North America, the annual African Diaspora Film Festival draws folks from all over the country to enjoy a bevy of diverse films highlighting global Afrocentric culture. Attendees will see excellent films from Canada, Senegal, Guyana and the U.S., among others, held at six different venues around the city. 212-864-1760, www.nyadiff.org
Lysa Allman-Baldwin writes for numerous online and print publications, including as the cultural travel writer for www.Examiner.com and as a senior travel writer for SoulOfAmerica.com, an Afrocentric travel website. Lysa can be reached at lallmanbaldwin@kc.rr.com.
